Broadway Press Agents - Broadway Public Relations PR firms in New York City specializing in Broadway Shows Public Relations
When a show is about to go up on Broadway, it is vital that the producer secures a good Broadway public relations firm to get the word out to the New York and national press. The reason this is so important is because it is the press that will help convince people to buy tickets to the show. The Broadway PR company's job includes sending press releases to news outlets, assembling press kits, pitching story possibilities to journalists, inviting theater reviewers and Tony voters to see the show, and being on hand during early performances to interact with the Broadway press. The Broadway show representative wants to create as much buzz as possible (mostly by convincing newspaper and magazine writers to do feature stories on the show), and he wants to get as many journalists to review the show as possible.
Broadway is such an insular community that it should be no surprise to find that the majority of Broadway shows are handled by the top two press agencies:
Boneau/Bryan-Brown
The first and largest is Boneau/Bryan-Brown (BBB), which was founded in 1990 and is named for Chris Boneau and Adrian Bryan-Brown.
BBB usually represents 15-20 Broadway shows in any given season, not to mention numerous Off-Broadway shows.
Barlow-Hartman Public Relations
The second largest firm is Barlow-Hartman Public Relations, formed in 1997 and named for John Barlow and Michael Hartman.
They generally rep about half a dozen shows during a Broadway season.
And The Others
Other Broadway PR companies that handle Broadway musicals and plays include Jeffrey Richards Associates, The Publicity Office, Sam Rudy Media Relations, The Pete Sanders Group, and Richard Kornberg & Associates. Lincoln Center Theater has an in-house press representative, Philip Rinaldi.
It is interesting how fluid the Broadway public relations business is, though. Ten years ago, Barlow-Hartman was just getting started in the Broadway game, and Sam Rudy was handling little Off-Off Broadway shows. It's not unusual for press agents at bigger firms like BBB to strike out on their own, and some of them do very well for themselves. In another 10 years, who knows who will be handling most of the Broadway publicity?
